Special Issue Call for Papers | The GIFT Exchange
Special Issue - Volume 9(4), Journal of Public Relations Education
Special Issue Co-Editors:
Adrienne A. Wallace, Advertising & Public Relations, School of Communications Grand Valley State University, Adrienne.Wallace@gvsu.edu
Amanda J. Weed, Digital and Emerging Media, School of Communication & Media Kennesaw State University, aweed2@kennesaw.edu
Rationale:
In 2018, the Commission on Public Relations Education (CPRE) released “Fast Forward: Foundations and Future State. Educators and Practitioners,” its most recent report on the state of public relations education. A key finding of this report noted that “there is still a gap between what educators believe they are teaching and what practitioners believe they find in new hires” (p. 45) when comparing “Fast Forward” to previous state of education reports published by CPRE. That insight points to a continuing need for educators to address the development of specific knowledge, skills, and abilities (KSAs) in teaching that will prepare students to become successful entry-level practitioners in the field of public relations.
This special call seeks submissions of domestic or international Great Ideas for Teaching (GIFTs) that align with CPRE’s “Fast Forward” report to address specific knowledge (p. 47), skills (p. 49), abilities (p. 50), and traits (p. 51) that were rated by public relations practitioners as “most desired” for entry-level level practitioners in the field. Such KSAs include (but are not limited to):
Knowledge
- Diversity and Inclusion
- Cultural Perspective
- Business Acumen
- PR Law & Regulation
- Ethics
- Social Issues
Skills
- Writing
- Communication
- Social Media Management
- Research & Analytics
- Editing
Abilities
- Creative Thinking
- Problem Solving
- Critical Thinking
Traits
- Curiosity
- Creativity
- Collaboration
- Initiative
- Time Management
The GIFT submission should include:
- Assignment Overview
- Assignment rationale and how it addresses one or more of the most-desired KSA’s identified in “Fast Forward”
- Assignment learning objectives
- Connection to public relations practice and/or theory
- How the assignment was class-tested
- Empirical evidence of learning outcomes/assessment
- Template Assignment Guide
- Assignment Grading Criteria and/or Rubric
- Teaching Note
- Public relations classes for which the assignment is best suited
- Best practices of implementing the assignment
- Recommended resources related to the assignment
- Limitations or challenges of implementing the assignment
- References
Submission Guidelines:
Submissions should follow the Author Guidelines on the JPRE website. Authors should include the special call name in parentheses after their manuscript title to indicate the submission is for this particular special call. Authors should submit their manuscript through Scholastica, the online submission system for JPRE. All submissions will be anonymously reviewed, following the guidelines of JPRE. Authors must use APA style for citations, references, tables, and figures caption. All identifying information must be deleted before full paper submissions. Submissions will be double-blind reviewed by experts in PR pedagogy and practice.
Timeline with Key Dates:
- Deadline for full manuscript submission to JPRE’s Scholastica submission portal: https://jpre.scholasticahq.com/ June 9, 2023
- Notification of review results, including invitations for revision and resubmission (R&R): August 15, 2023
- Deadline for R&R submission: August 30, 2023
- Scheduled Publication: Volume 9, Issue 4 (November/December 2023)
If you have any questions, please contact the guest editors for additional information:
Dr. Adrienne A. Wallace, Grand Valley State University - adrienne.wallace@gvsu.edu
Dr. Amanda J. Weed, Kennesaw State University - aweed2@kennesaw.edu